Barney show at the baby expo
If you have a youngster, there is a good chance that you have to suffer through at least weekly episodes of Barney. So it is with us. And when we got invited to lunch with friends in Johannesburg, we decided to make use of the opportunity to take the child to the Barney Show running at the Coca-Cola Dome during the Baby Show.
Welcome to blatant rip-off commercialism! On the website, the show was billed as being 20 minutes long. The forgot to mention the 20 minutes of infomercial leading up to Barney’s appearance. The person introducing the performers, used words like merchandise when speaking to 2 to 4 year olds. They went to great length to emphasise the fact that Barney was brought to you by x, y and z.
And to crown it all, there was a barrier between Barney and the kids. Is he scared of being mugged by a three year old, bottle-wielding infant? The Barney show makes a big thing about “I love you blah blah blah – with a great BIG HUG etc”, but in this case the love was reserved for one lucky rugrat who brough along a birthday card for the purple monster. Makes you wonder if Barney & Co gets royalties from US military interrogators, torturing Iraqi prisoners.
So next year, when the Barney Show comes round again – rethink that sudden impulse to treat the child. You are better off showing a giving him/her a slab of chocolate, a bottle of green cooldrink and a tub of ice cream.
Tags: chocolate, barrier, Barney Show, Kids, infomercial
